---
id: overview
title: Overview - Temporal Cloud
sidebar_label: Overview
description: Temporal Cloud is a SaaS platform managing the durability of your Temporal Applications, implemented using Temporal SDK. It supervises workflow histories and supports multiple isolated namespaces.
slug: /cloud/overview
toc_max_heading_level: 4
keywords:
  - explanation
  - term
tags:
  - Temporal Cloud
---

When it comes to running Temporal in production, you have two main options:

**Temporal self-hosted:**
This option involves setting up and managing your own instance of the Temporal Server.
Your Workers and Temporal Application connect directly to this self-hosted instance.
With the self-hosted approach, you have full control over the infrastructure and are responsible for managing the persistence layer, scalability, and availability of the Temporal system.

**Temporal Cloud:**
Temporal Cloud is a fully managed service provided by Temporal.
It offers a hassle-free way to run your Temporal Applications without the need to manage the underlying infrastructure.
Your Workers and Temporal Applications connect to the Temporal Cloud service, which takes care of the persistence layer, scalability, and availability for you.

Temporal Cloud and self-hosted Temporal Services have some similarities, as both require your Temporal Clients and Workers to establish a connection to the Temporal Service.
Additionally, in both cases, you are responsible for managing and hosting your application code and running your Workers.
The choice between self-hosted and Temporal Cloud depends on your specific requirements, resources, and expertise.

### High level system topology of the Temporal Service

There are two major parts of the Temporal Service that work together to create the fully functioning system.
Temporal Cloud is an offering of the Temporal Service.

1. Temporal SDK: The Temporal software development kit (SDK) is available in various languages and can be integrated as a dependency into your new or existing application.
   It offers developers a comprehensive development framework and APIs, facilitating the creation and management of applications.
2. Temporal Cloud: Operating independently from the execution environment, Temporal Cloud oversees the execution process by preserving the source of truth for your Workflow Execution Event Histories.
   This independent supervision ensures the durable execution of your distributed applications and services.

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    <p className="tdit">High-level system topology</p>
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      alt="High-level system topology"
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Temporal Cloud is based off of the open source [Temporal Server](/clusters#temporal-server) software and offers a comparable set of features but with out the overhead of setting up and deploying a production level Temporal Service (Temporal Server + all of the auxillary services it depends on).

Temporal Cloud is offered in units of isolation known as [Namespaces](/namespaces).
You can provision and use one or more Cloud Namespaces.
A typical use case is to use separate Namespaces as development, testing, integration, staging, and production environments for an application.
